


And You Would Listen

by orphan_account



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Background Relationships, F/M, Friendship, Gen, More characters to come, Nonbinary Character, Tagging as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 14:51:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12684102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Avery doesn't like to make too much of a fuss. All they really want is to make it as a writer. Lucky for them the people they work with make life pretty interesting.





	1. Trepidation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> noun: a feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen.

You wake up at five in the morning. You do this every Friday, because Friday means laundry day. You stumble out of bed and haul load of laundry down a few flights of stairs into the laundry room. You do this because no one else is around to talk to you. The other tenants in the building are far from strangers to you, despite this you dislike talking to them in the morning. It makes you feel on edge. When you go down here you always wear your long, grey jacket, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Your shoes are old and scuffed but make for decent running shoes. There are no windows in the basement and the light that flickers from above is paltry, so you bring a powerful torch, meant for camping. You haven’t been camping in years.  
You walk up three flights of stairs from the basement to your apartment. The walls of the corridors are an off-white that remind you of the grease that collects in a frying pan - if that grease had been left to sit for three decades. You wonder when they were last painted.  
You take off your coat and shoes, leaving them by the door.  
You fall into bed, dead to the world.

The alarm goes off at seven and you sigh. You don’t groan, as you might later in the day. It’s too early for any kind of tangible noise. You settle for a half-yawn-half-huff. You reach over to turn off your alarm clock, hitting snooze instead of off. You rub the sleep out of your eyes and put on your glasses. The wall opposite your bed goes from blurry to crystal clear, high definition. It’is adorned with posters, drawings, photographs, anything you deemed worthy to stick above your desk. You notice that one of the photographs - of you and a few friends - is crooked. You shuffle to the end of your bed and reach out. With a steady hand on your desk chair you correct it. You should get a frame for the photo, really. 

There’s a sliver of light creeping through the curtains. It hits the back of your neck and, yeah, today’s gonna be a hot one. You don’t mind -- you’ll spend most of the day inside, anyway. You get up and s t r e t c h before rooting through your wardrobe. You settle on a shirt and jeans.  
You walk to work because you don’t have a car. Well, you could get the bus but you enjoy walking. You appreciate the quiet of the morning before rush hour sets in. It’s not quite the gridlock and angry honking of horns that is L.A. rush hour traffic. It’s a more dilute version.

It’s been a week since you started your new job as an editor. You’re still pretty nervous, considering how much you have riding on this editing gig -- it’s either this or go back to working for just over minimum wage. Luckily for you, the people you work with make your work life pretty fun. Calling them co-workers doesn’t feel right.  
When you get to work, there’s only one other person in the office space. To be fair, it’s ten o’clock. The other guys won’t get here until at least eleven. You wave at Barry as you sit down at your desk. The three screen setup took some getting used to at first but you think you’ve got the hang of it.

'Morning.’ you say.

‘Morning, Avery,' he says before yawning. Every morning, Barry arrives before you do, and stays later than you every night. You hope he gets enough sleep. Though considering the empty cup of coffee on his desk you doubt this.

You’re still anxious around the Grumps in general. You know you’re more than capable of doing your job -- you wouldn’t have been hired if that weren’t the case. There’s something daunting about working with people as successful as the Grumps. A mistake on your part - a blip in the upload schedule, for instance - could backfire horribly. You think about this as you open up Adobe Premiere. You get to work editing a Mario playthrough. Game Grumps was definitely something you were aware of before you started working for them. To make things worse, you’re more or less a nervous wreck around most knew people you meet. You become overly conscious of your own actions. How you sit, talk, smile -- when you smile. You’re not the best at emoting in general.

You turn on your monitor. So far, the Grumps members you’ve met have all been nice. You want to believe that they really are all that nice. Instead, a nagging voice echoes through your mind: _’They don’t like you. They’re just being nice out of obligation.’_ You are the newbie after all. So you try to be nice and polite -- even when you want nothing more than to be left alone. You need them to like working with you. You need this job.

When you graduated from college, you worked at a bookstore. The owner was a sweet, elderly man. Working there nine-’til-five had been fun, it just didn’t pay enough. After that you worked at a few different places, putting your editing skills to work on freelance projects here and there. When you saw a job ad for an editor on a ‘let’s play’ channel, your thought process was pretty much _‘Eh, why not.’_ You’d watched Game Grumps from time to time before you applied -- enough to know who they are and what they’re about. So when you were interviewed over Skype, to say that you were surprised to see none other than Arin Hanson was your interviewer would be an understatement. Needless to say, it was the simultaneously the chillest and surrealist interview you’ve ever experienced.

After a while, the rest of the crew start to arrive. First Arin and Danny, who greet you in turn. You mumble a ‘hello’ to the both of them, your heart racing during the encounter. You know this is ridiculous. The idea that your actions are ridiculous makes your stomach clench. It’s a vicious, stupid cycle.

Around lunch time, you and Barry both agree to take a break. The two of you head over to the kitchen. He puts something in the microwave and you take your lunch out of the fridge -- a leftover sandwich from yesterday (to be fair it had been a big sandwich and you hate wasting food). You think of all the things you could say to him.

_'Do you ever think about how if someone from the past were to show up in our time we'd be, like, fuckin' wizards to them?'_ You say -- want to say. Instead you think. _'We have access to all of human knowledge at our fingertips. I have a tablet made of precious metals and liquid dinosaurs that can tell me the weather on the other side of the planet. Or teach me about the solar system. We're omniscient creatures that have mastery over the Earth. Who got to decide that? If someone from the past observed us, would we look like monsters or Gods?'_

'Avery?' 

You look up at Barry. 

'You've been staring at that sandwich for like two solid minutes. You OK?' 

You look back at your lunch. You aren't hungry in the slightest, though you know you need to eat. 'Uhhh. I guess. I'm not hungry,' _'True.'_ 'I'm kinda tired today. _'Total lie.'_

'You can always eat it later,' he says. 

'Nah,' you reply, then take a bite. It's taste had depreciated slightly compared to yesterday, but otherwise it's OK. Barry goes back to eating his own food. He's isn't much of a talker himself, and you appreciate the mutual silence accompanied by lunch. You wonder if he's as introverted. 

Technically you're meant to have an hour for lunch. Barry always goes back to editing at least ten minutes early each time. You take this spare time as extra Quiet Time. Most days this week have been just that. Quiet. Today is not one of those days.

As you take another bite of your sandwich you hear a voice down the corridor. 'Hey, guys!' It's Suzy, probably straight out of a recording session. 

‘Hey, Avery!’ she says, rushing over. You’re engulfed in the scent of lavender and perfume. You learned early on that Suzy’s a hugger. Your tendency when confronted with such a person is to freeze up. You pat her arm, hoping that this will suffice. She's asked you more than once already if you want her to stop. You told her that you don't mind -- you really don't and you're not sure why. 

'Hi,' you say, too late into the encounter. 

‘I love your shirt.’ she says.’

You look down at your simple plaid button-up. ‘Thanks.’

‘So, how are you settling in?’

‘Pretty well. I’m about a third of the way through the episodes I’m working on.’ There’s a certain rhythm you get into while editing. Once you start you can keep the pace up.

‘That’s great but I meant in general.’

‘Oh. That’s good too. I’ll tell you one thing, it’s a hell of a lot more fun that my last job.’

So, Arin tells me that you taught yourself editing.’

‘Yeah. I got into it in college,' it all started out as a hobby. You joined the Computing Club because it looked interesting. There was this one person who liked making edits of shows set to music, She showed you the basics of editing, then you picked up the rest by yourself. It still mostly for fun and looked good on your resume. 

‘When did you leave, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘A couple of years ago.’

As soon as you left you were on your own. No dorm room or room mates. Just you.

‘Tonight we’re having a get together tonight at Danny and Barry’s,’ she says. ‘Do you wanna come?’

‘Uh, yeah. Why not,’ you say while, in your head, calculating how much you’re going to have to mentally prepare for the party. Why did you have to say yes straight away 

‘That’s great! We're gonna hang out and play some video games, with considerably more alcohol than usual,’ you must look unenthused, because she adds, ‘It’s just gonna be the Grumps.’

‘It sounds...interesting. Can I have the time and address?' _'And the duration? And an appropriate time to bail out? And an excuse not to drink?'_

She writes it down and you try to push down the part of you that absolutely does not want to go. You need to make a good first impression. You hate parties. You always end up sitting in the corner on your phone as everyone else around you gets drunk. Social events always manage to bring out the worst parts of your introvert tendencies: there’s the socially awkward nerd archetype and then there’s your anxious ass. Even so, you have to make it seem like you actually like your colleagues. What would they think if you never attended any of their groups events? Parties and social gatherings seemed like their thing. Could you get fired for not being sociable enough? You'd been let go for less in the past.

Suzy gives you her number, reassuring you that she’ll answer any question you throw her way, about the party or otherwise. She's a good colleague. She really nice in general, actually. You're glad you work with her. And Barry. They're good eggs.

Soon enough you head back to your desk, cup of coffee in your hands and a small smile on your face.


	2. Commune and Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery learns how to socialise.

When you get home from work the first thing you do is throw off your shoes. The second thing you do is try not to panic.

’Don’t overthink it,’ you think. _’This isn’t a big deal.’ _You start to pace back and forth. If you keep up at it you’ll wear a groove in the damn floor. You keep your breathing steady. _’Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven, breathe out for seven,’_ __

__What are you even supposed to bring to an adult party? Beer? Knowledge from your academic field? Artisan bread? That’d take too long. You could make cupcakes. Everyone likes those, right? If there’s one thing you have down, it’s baking skills. It’s on your resume, right below editing._ _

__You decide to make some, because fuck it. If you become known as anyone, let it be ‘that dude who makes baked goods.’ You have the ingredients lying around, so why not?_ _

__You recall the recipe with ease, and your scales are broken so you measure everything out the best you can from memory._ _

__You get that one song from the musical _Waitress stuck in your head_ : _’Sugar, butter, flour_.’ _ _

__Mixing the ingredients is almost therapeutic: you don’t have to think about anything else other than how much milk to add in or how you’re folding the batter...that is, until you think about all the gunk stuck under your fingernails. Gross._ _

__As you wash your hands you have the sudden urge to paint your nails._ _

__Do you even have any nail polish? You couldn’t wear it, anyway, you’d get judged for it for sure. You shake your head. You’re thinking too much._ _

____

You get changed into a clean, navy blue button up shirt. You contemplate wearing a dark red tie, too - the only one you own - shooting the idea down as quickly as it was conceived. You don’t want to look overdressed or too much like a member of Green Day. 

____

You tap your fingers on your desk over and over, trying to calm down. To distract yourself you turn on your laptop and open up a Word document. 

____

You spend an hour or two on your laptop. Most of that time is spent editing a piece of writing you’re working on. You’re always writing. A few months prior, you finally finished a project that consumed the last few years of your life. _Silver Wind Rhapsody_ is what you can safely call a novel. You fully intend to get it published. The night you graduated high school was also the night you dedicated yourself to finishing the story. The novel is about a duo who solve mysteries while the protagonist searches for the man who killed their father. Saying it out loud makes the plot sound kind of dumb, but that's the joke. The whole thing is riddled with intentional melodrama. 

____

You’ve received rejection letters from a few publishers already, which is more or less what you expected. Harry Potter was rejected over a dozen times, after all. Not that your work would ever measure up with that of J.K.Rowling’s. You’re hopeful, of course. One day, you’re going to get a response from an actual human being, and when you do...oh, who are you kidding? You’ll never be ready for that day. For the time being, you’re polishing off a few sections here and there. You don’t know if you’ll ever be fully finished -- the worst part of the writing process was knowing when you were done (the answer was never). 

____

You arrive at the party around seven thirty. After double and triple checking that you have the right house, you knock on. Suzy greets you at the door and before you can remember to be nervous, she grabs you by the hand and ushers you into the living room. Ross, Danny and Arin are all already there. 

____

’I’m so glad you could make it!’ Says Suzy. ‘What’s that?’ She points to your plastic container. 

____

’I brought tiny cup sized cakes. I hope no one has Coeliac disease.’ 

____

’But does it fit in a cup, though?’ Asks Dan. 

____

’Shit, he found me out. Abort, abort!’ you scuttle away, towards a door to what you hope is the kitchen. ‘I need a plate for my pile of lies.’ 

____

Barry follows you in and helps you out. 

____

’You didn’t have to go to all this trouble,’ he says as he moves the cakes onto a plate. 

____

You shrug. ’It’s no big deal.’ 

____

You head back in. Everyone’s sitting around, chatting. Suzy eyes you and smiles -- she’s determined to get you involved. 

____

‘So, Avery, tell us about yourself. Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?’ says Suzy. If that question came from anyone other than her, you would bristle and change the subject. Suzy has a way of cutting through awkwardness with a kind of nonchalance that you wish you had. 

____

‘Yeah, spill,’ Dan jokes. ‘I wanna hear all the juicy details.’ 

____

You shrug. ‘I’m not dating anyone at the moment. And I ain’t saying anything else.’ you cross your arms and grin sheepishly. 

____

‘Do you have a roommate?’ He asks. 

____

Yeah but he’s out of town. What, is this, ‘interrogate Avery time’ or something?’ 

____

‘You’re the newbie,’ says Ross. ‘And we’re all nosy assholes. So what did you do before you joined us? College? The army? Professional hit man?' 

____

‘College. Then I worked a few different jobs, I guess. Nothing fancy. I met my roommate, Ash, at college. We both lived around here before and moved back together.' 

____

Someone asks about you accent and you get the feeling that this whole party was an excuse to get to know you. ‘I know it sounds a little strange. My family’s Italian and French, and I’ve lived here long enough for it to get kinda weird.’ 

____

‘You’re Italian? Fuck, man, that’s awesome,’ Ross exclaims. ‘Can you say anything?’ 

____

You clear your throat. _‘Ciao, mi chiamo Avery. Como si chiama?'_

____

You receive a quick round of _'Cool'_ s and one _'Fucking sweet dudes'_ for your ability to string together basic phrases. 

____

‘So you were born there?’ Asks Suzy. 

____

‘Yeah, from Naples. A bunch of my family live here, on the east coast.’ You haven’t been out there since college. Your cousins are nice enough, even if the weather over there is colder than you can bear. They tolerate you enough to let you stay from time to time. 

____

The conversation shifts to another topic, your cakes are eaten. The rest of the night is a blast. For the first time in what feels like a very long time, you enjoy yourself. Your introversion eases its grip on your mood and for once, lets you relax. 

____

You have a drink or two, wincing at the sour taste of beer. _'How can people enjoy this stuff?'_ After the first bottle, it starts to taste a little better. When most the of the partygoers - yourself included - are more than a little inebriated, you suggest they play Mario Kart with a twist: 

____

‘You have to finish your drink before you finish your final lap. Every time you drink, you first have to park your kart by the side of the road, and you can’t go again until you put the cup down.’ 

____

The results of this game are spectacular. Ross begins the race by chugging his beer, finishing the whole beverage before he even hits Go. Arin decides to take strategic pit stops, and you don't think you've ever seen a man concentrate with such intensity on anything than in figuring out where to brake on Ghost Valley. 

____

‘Dan, I swear to God if you throw that shell -- fuck!’ Arin throws up his hands as he’s overtaken by both Danny and Barry. 

____

‘How’s last place, Hanson?’ asks Ross. 

____

‘Fucking wait. ‘M gonna win this shit.’ You can’t for the life of you remember who won, just that the final challenge Rainbow Road is still as hard as it was when you first played it as a child. Most games get easier as you grow up and learn how games function. This level is another matter entirely. You watch in awe as Suzy adopts Ross’ strategy and breezes through the course, only falling off track twice. Everyone else's coordination is too impaired to compete with her. 

____

Around this time you begin to yawn. You put your feet up on the sofa and curl into a pillow, staring at the screen. The voices around you are still loud but you start to filter them out, exhausted. You can't leave yet. You’ll rest your eyes for a few minutes.

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay. I'm working on this slowly but surely. If you spot any errors, such as typos, feel free to point them out.


End file.
